Improvement in portable fences



J. BICKH ART. m

Portable Fenc'e.

No. 357581; Patented Jun 17, 1862.

N PETERS, PhoKo-Lilhegnpller. Washington, 11C.

of the same.

, tion by braces O O.

UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ime IOKHART, or HARLAN, INDIANA.

:il- MEPROVEMENT m PORTABLE FENCES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,581, dated June 17, 1862.

e To all whom it concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB BIGKHAR'I, of

' Harlan, in the county of Allan and State of Indiana, have invented a new and Improved Portable Fence; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this F'gure 1 represents a section of my invention. Fig. 2 is a face View Similarletters of reference in both views indicate correspondingparts. I h a This invention consists in the'arrangement 0f braces with V -shaped edges catching into corresponding notchesin the edges ofthe posts near to their upper ends, in combination with t a cross-brace, the endsof which form hooks and catch overthe, lower edges of said cross- I braces and with a wedge and semicircular gib,

in such a manner that by the action of crossbraceon the lower ends of the braces the upper ends of the postsare held together, and by the action of thesemicircular gib and wedge, which forces the cross-brace down, the lower end of the postsareprevented spreading.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and usegmyinventiomf-I will proceed to describe it with reference to the drawings.

The ends of panels A are confined between theuprightposts B B, and these posts are held together and retained in an upright posi- The"edges of, these braces are V shaped, and the upper edge of the brace O catches into a corresponding V-shaped notch,

a, in the upper part of the post B, and its lower edge intoa similar notch, a, in the post B, and in a similar manner the upper edge of brace G is confined in a notchin. post B and its lower edge ina notch in postB on the opposite side of the brace C, as clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The lowerends] of braces O C are forced toward each other by a cross-brace, D, which passes through a mortise in the lower ends of posts BB, and the ends of which form hooks c 0, which catch over the edges of braces O O. I I

transverse vertical It is obvious that by forcing the crosszbrace D down the upper ends of the braces (l G, and with them the upper ends of posts B B, are

' forced together, andthe ends of the panels are firmly retained between said posts.

. The cross-brace D is held down by a wedge, d, and gib e, and the gib is made semicircular, so that itsends catch over the edges of the mortise in the lower ends of posts, and prevent them spreading. By driving in the wedge d the gib e is forced up, and the lower ends of posts are firmly confined by its action on the edges of the mortise, and at the same time the cross-brace D is forced down, thereby closing up the bracesC G, and with them the upper ends of posts. By means of wedge d, therefore, the posts are made to confine the ends of panels firmly and 'without the use of rails.

The upper ends of braces G 0 may be confined in brackets E E, which are attached to the upper ends of posts, and which are provided with dovetailed grooves to receive the ends of braces. tional hold to the braces, and they add to the firmness of the upper ends of the posts; but they are not absolutely necessary to render the fence firm, and if it is desired to build a cheap fence they can be dispensed with.

Thisfence is ,exceedingly simple in its construction, and it can easily be taken apart or .put up in any desired locality;

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as ,new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-' V The arrangement of the wedge d, jib e, and hooked cross-brace D, in combination with the braces O O and notches a a in the upper ends of posts B B, all constructed and operating substantially in the manner and for the purpose shown and described.

. JACOB BICKHART.

Witnesses:

. RUDOLPH WESTERMAN,

J OHN BEEOHGOOD.

These brackets givean addi- 

